Saved By the Alien Healer (Mates of the Kaluma #5)

Chapter 1

ONE

Ethan

I jolted awake as an ear-piercing scream cut through the fog of unconsciousness.

I inhaled with a gasp before ripping the breathing mask from my face and slamming the button on my coffin-like sleeping chamber.

As the door slid open, I overestimated my ability to move my legs.

Instead of stepping out gracefully, I more or less toppled out, and my naked body sprawled on the cold metal floor of the spaceship.

“Shit,” I bit out, and immediately regretted speaking as my throat protested from lack of use.

All the while, the inhumane screaming continued, like a thousand long fingernails on a thousand chalkboards. It wasn’t until I shook my head and stumbled to my wobbly feet, that I realized the screaming was inhumane, because it wasn’t a scream at all, but a blaring alarm.

I lurched like a newborn colt toward the cockpit, dragging my right leg behind me, because it seemed to be still asleep.

An explosion blasted to my left, and the entire ship jerked and rolled.

I went airborne and hit the side of the ship on my right hip.

This time, the scream was mine. The alarms just kept blaring as I crawled with gritted teeth toward the cockpit.

“Mother ship damaged,” said the female robotic voice in a tone that was entirely too calm for the circumstances. Earlier in my journey, I’d nicknamed her Candy.

“Please retreat to landing pod and deploy.”

The ship rocked again, but I couldn’t see into the darkness of space to determine what had caused the damage.

The lights on the ship had been cut off to preserve fuel.

Maybe I’d hit a meteor field. Or maybe a damn alien ship.

Which made me snort. If someone had told me a year ago that I’d be on a spaceship to an alien world to collect some stupid plant in order to save my life, I would have laughed in their face. Preposterous. Insane.

But yet, here I was, freeballing it in the middle of space as I listened to Candy tell me with the emotion of reading a phone book that I was in an emergency. Which, yeah. No shit.

She spoke again, “Mother ship damaged. “Please retreat to landing pod and deploy.”

“Yeah, Candy,” I muttered as I got onto all fours. Every muscle in my body protested. My ribs ached. “I’ll get right to that landing pod. No problem. Easy as fucking cake.”

Were there clothes in the landing pod? Shit, I needed some pants and shoes at least. This wasn’t an episode of Naked and Afraid. I couldn’t wander around an alien planet with my dick out.

By now, the ship was nearly on its side, so I fumbled my way along the wall under me, still on all fours, until I reached the supply cabinet.

With a tug, I opened it and pulled out a go-bag that I’d packed hoping I’d never have to use it.

After strapping it to my back, I continued on my way to the other side of the ship where the landing pod was attached, and apparently still intact, unless Candy was lying to me.

Hell, at one time, I thought this entire thing was a lie.

When that bastard Paul Holmes told me the only way he wouldn’t strip my skin from my bones while I was still alive was if I traveled to some other-galaxy planet and retrieve a special plant for him, I had thought he was fucking with me.

Truly, it made no sense. I couldn’t even cross the Atlantic Ocean with fruit from one continent to another without TSA on my ass, and he wanted me to get something from another galaxy? Hilarious. Truly a good prank.

Then I’d realized that the wealthiest people in the world were on a whole other level than I could have ever imagined.

Which was how I found myself committing the heist of my life…

in another galaxy. Because that was what I did for a living—I stole shit.

High-priced shit. Artwork and jewelry and rare antiques from the homes and safes of the richest people in the world.

And then I turned it around and sold it to other rich people.

I’d give the shirt off my back to a working-class mother, but some billionaire who only inherited his money because his ancestors were colonizers?

Fuck them and the horse they rode in on.

I’d take their toilet seat and sell it if I could.

Stealing from Paul Holmes was supposed to be my last job.

I’d just gotten out of prison after serving a long sentence, and the Holmes heist was my last hurrah, a job that would set me up for life.

Instead, it was almost the last thing I ever did alive.

His goons caught me, and instead of ripping out my teeth, he’d offered me a chance to save my life.

I’d laughed out loud, until I realized he was serious.

I might have just succumbed to my fate if he hadn’t also threatened my former partner-in-crime, Malcolm.

He was out of the game with a wife, kids, and a legal job.

But Holmes said he’d frame him for my heist and put him away for decades if I didn’t do this mission.

So that’s how I found myself on a spaceship being launched into space.

So this planet had to exist. Holmes had spent money and fuel to get my ass to another galaxy. He’d trained me how to fly this spaceship that was a glorified bottle rocket. Which was likely why Candy was currently telling me to bail.

Bail where? At this point, I had no idea.

I didn’t have the luxury of time to study a fucking map.

And damn, I could use some pants. What if a sharp object ripped into my balls?

I shuddered as I slammed my fist down on the landing pod’s entrance under me.

The hatch slid open, and I yelped as I dropped inside and crashed to the bottom of the pod.

My elbow cracked on the hard floor, and I bit back a scream.

A dim light illuminated the inside. I could make out a small control panel and enough room for one chair.

Immediately the shaft slid shut, and I jerked to my feet as Candy spoke to me again, “Occupant detected. Fasten restraints and prepare for deployment.”

“Damn, you’re good,” I muttered as I scrambled into the chair. With the entire ship and attached pod on its side, I flopped in the chair on my back and fumbled with the straps until I heard a satisfying click.

“Restraints engaged. Deploying in five…four…”

My heart slammed against my ribcage. “Deploying where?” I hollered into the emptiness.

“Three… Two… One… Deploying to Destination, Torin. Estimated time: Three hours.”

Torin. Torin. That was where I was supposed to go. Three hours? I heaved a sigh of relief and gripped the sides of the chair just as the pod jolted. My head slammed into the back of the chair, and I saw stars.

“Deploying,” Candy said helpfully.

“Yeah, the ride’s a little rough, babe” I said. “Could you maybe—?”

Another sharp jerk. This time, my head hit the side of the chair. Pain exploded in my ear. My stomach shot up into my throat from a sudden drop, and everything went black.

Pain forced me into consciousness. Everything fucking hurt.

My head throbbed, and my ribs felt like shards of glass poking at my organs.

I opened my eyes, but my vision was nothing but a blur.

A weird little tune played while Candy repeated the same phrase, “Landing on Torin complete. Landing on Torin complete. Landing on Torin complete.”

“Fuck,” I muttered. “I heard you.”

I tried to move, but my legs were like noodles.

I blinked rapidly, and my blurry vision cleared somewhat.

My face felt sticky, and when I touched my hands to my cheeks, my fingers came away stained a rusty red.

Old, dried blood. How long had I been unconscious?

Well, that couldn’t be good. Was my skull still intact?

I fumbled with the restraints on my chair until I managed to release them.

I moaned and tried to move again, and this time, I slid out of my chair and onto my hands and knees.

I shook my head, trying to clear the fog and pain so I could focus.

I was alive, and I wanted to stay that way.

Through the window of the escape pod, I could see foliage of some sort, but the colors were distorted from the tinted glass.

I blew out a breath. I was actually on land.

Alien planet land, if Candy was to be believed.

Excitement swirled in my gut, momentarily replacing the pain.

The promise of adventure was enough to make me almost forget that I could be dying.

I was an adrenaline junky after all, hence my choice in profession.

“How do I get out of here?” I scrabbled around for the door. My sticky, bloody hands managed to land on a latch, and with a hiss, a door opened and a ramp slammed down on the ground with a thunk.

I stumbled to my feet, bracing myself with a hand on the doorway, and got my first look at my destination.

Torin. A sun shone hot and bright on some sort of small clearing—maybe a hundred yards in diameter—in a temperate climate.

Thick trees stood tall around my pod, and their purple leaves fluttered in the breeze.

Blue grass swayed as it rose tall out of green dirt.

Something flew overheard with a soft whistle, casting a small shadow on the ground.

The sun blazed in one direction, and in another, a large planet loomed, so close that I reached out my hand as if to touch it.

Which was the first good look I had at my hand.

I immediately recoiled. One finger was bent at an angle it should not be bent, and a gash along my knuckles seemed nearly to the bone.

I flexed my digits and immediately regretted it as pain lanced up my arm.

“In bad shape, bud,” I said to myself as I took a step down the ramp.

That was also when I remembered that I was naked.

Totally nude. Just balls out on an alien planet.

Terrible idea. I didn’t care about modesty, but I sure did care about protecting vital assets.

With a curse, I turned back into the pod to find my go-bag.

The pod itself wasn’t in bad shape. It must have landed as opposed to crashed despite my lack of piloting.

Two things mattered most—my go-bag and the pod watch.

I opened the lid of the glass hatch that held the watch and strapped it to my wrist. Sensing my body heat, the screen flickered to life. “Hello, Ethan,” Candy greeted me.

“Hey, babe,” I answered her.

This watch was my ticket home. As soon as I found the plant, a rescue ship would be sent to fly me back to Earth.

The screen flickered again, and a countdown clock appeared.

Three hundred and sixty hours. Equal to fifteen days.

That was how long I had to get the plant and call for rescue.

After that… well, I’d likely be dead, because it meant I’d failed my mission.

I grabbed my bag and was about to open the zipper when a rustling came from outside the pod. I froze and slowly turned to the open doorway. My heart pounded. This pod was tiny, about the size of a bathroom, and I was cornered if something tried to attack me.

In an effort to make as little sound as possible, I wiggled my fingers into the opening of the bag and peeled back the zipper one tooth at a time. Outside the pod, a dark shape crept from the tree line. Panic threatened to take over, but I forced myself to stay calm.

I slipped my hand inside the bag, pushing aside the pants for the most important item to defend myself.

My fingers closed around a thick strap, and my mouth stretched in a feral grin.

I withdrew the attached weapon—a state-of-the-art gun that fired laser bullets—and settled the strap across my bare chest. After securing the bag to my back, I padded toward the opening on my bare feet.

I would have killed for the time to put on my boots.

I had no idea what kind of toxic plants or dirt existed out there, but I refused to die cornered in this pod.

Something was approaching. Something big and smelly. My eyes watered from the stench, and bile rose in my throat with every inhale. In a crouch, I slipped down the ramp, and with a prayer to Candy, took my first step onto the dirt of Torin.

I waited for the grass to singe my feet or the dirt to suck me in like quicksand, but the ground wasn’t much different than the feel of Earth’s grass.

I took another step, and then another, all while keeping my gaze on the shifting shadows slipping between the foliage.

The grass came up to my knees, and I hated not being able to see where I was stepping.

But my focus had to be on the new threat.

I slipped around the side of the pod, which was still smoking from the entrance into the planet’s atmosphere.

My shoulder brushed the metal surface, and I bit back a yelp as the heat singed my skin and left a mark of soot behind.

Every step jarred my damaged ribs. My left knee wasn’t bending right.

I could smell my own blood, and my vision still wasn’t what it should be.

My head throbbed, and the world spun for a moment. Fuck, I likely had a concussion.

Then the creature materialized from the trees and entered the small clearing where my pod sat.

My breath left my lungs, and my heart thudded as my stomach dropped right into my heels.

The alien creature stalking me was like an ostrich from hell.

A dinosaur gone wrong. The yellow beak of the creature was easily the size of my torso.

Black eyes the size of dinner plates. Oily blue-black feathers that stood on end as the creature approached me on three legs arranged like a tripod.

The front foot was the largest one, with predator talons and something like a spur that would easily slice me in two.

And this creature was hunting me. The eyes never left my body, and I carefully withdrew my gun before aiming it at the bird. I held my breath just as the bird threw back its head and let out a whooping cry that sent a bolt of fear straight into my heart.

Feathers rustled behind me. I whirled around, and black eyes met mine a moment before more whooping calls sounded from all around me.

A hunting party. And I was the prey.